NC in Focus: Unauthorized Immigrant Population

“The number of unauthorized immigrants living in the United States has stabilized since the end of the Great Recession and shows no sign of rising, according to new Pew Research Center estimates. The marked slowdown in new arrivals means that those who remain are more likely to be long-term residents, and to live with their U.S.-born children.” – Jeffrey S. Passel, D’Vera Cohn, Jens Manuel Krogstad, and Ana Gonzalez-Barrera, “As Growth Stalls, Unauthorized Immigrant Population Becomes More Settled,” Pew Research Center

350,000

The estimated number of unauthorized immigrants residing in North Carolina in 2012 according to the Pew Research Center’s Hispanic Trends Project. North Carolina has the 8th largest unauthorized immigrant population. California has the largest (2.5 million) while 6 states (Maine, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont, and West Virginia) are estimated to have fewer than 5,000 unauthorized immigrants.

44%

The share of the immigrant population in North Carolina that is unauthorized.

Nationwide, unauthorized immigrants comprise 26% of the immigrant population. North Carolina has the third highest share of unauthorized immigrants relative to the immigrant population after Arkansas (45%) and Mississippi (44%).

62%

The share of North Carolina’s unauthorized immigrant population that is from Mexico according to Pew’s 2012 estimates. According to the Migration Policy Institute, Honduras (6%), Guatemala (5%), El Salvador (4%), and India (2%) round out the top 5 countries of origin for North Carolina’s unauthorized population.

114,000

The number of unauthorized immigrants age 15 and older currently living with at least one U.S.-citizen child according to estimates from the Migration Policy Institute. This represents 35% of North Carolina’s adult unauthorized population.

34,000

The number of unauthorized immigrant children currently enrolled in school.

79%

The share of North Carolina’s unauthorized population that is under 35. North Carolina’s unauthorized population is slightly younger than the nation’s unauthorized population. Nationally, 73% of unauthorized immigrants are under 35; seven percent are 55 or older compared to only 4% in North Carolina.

Learn more about unauthorized immigration trends and North Carolina’s unauthorized population: